The 2023-24 ice hockey season saw men’s league attendance records broken across the world. Whether it be entire leagues or individual clubs reaching new milestones, there was evidence that the sport is growing around the globe.
Leading the entire hockey world was the NHL’s Montréal Canadiens with an average of 21,099 fans per game. They were one of ten clubs in the National Hockey League to average 100% capacity throughout the regular season. This was also Montréal’s second consecutive season being hockey’s top attended team. Only the Arizona Coyotes (4,600) had an average attendance below 13,000, although did have 100% capacity.
The most attended club outside of the NHL was Kölner Haie in Germany. Köln, who play at the 18,500 capacity Lanxess Arena, set a new European record with an average audience of 16,993 fans at each match. National League side SC Bern — who held the previous record — were second with an average of 15,490, followed by Eisbären Berlin of the DEL with 13,804.
Eleven non-NHL teams averaged over 10,000 fans per game: SKA St. Petersburg (13,332), Dinamo Minsk (12,143), Avangard Omsk (11,702), University of North Dakota (11,612), HC Sparta Praha (11,586), Adler Mannheim (11,395), ZSC Lions (11,244), Frölunda HC (10,563), Cleveland Monsters (10,347), Sibir Novosibirsk (10,216), and University of Wisconsin-Madison (10,059)
The only major European clubs to sellout every game this season were HC Fribourg-Gottéron in the NL, with 9,047 spectators on average, and Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL and their average of 5,500 fans.
Most Attended Team In Each Country
Canada: Montréal Canadiens (21,099)
United States: Tampa Bay Lightning (19,092)
Germany: Kölner Haie (16,993)
Switzerland: SC Bern (15,490)
Russia: SKA St. Petersburg (13,332)
Belarus: Dinamo Minsk (12,143)
Czechia: HC Sparta Praha (11,586)
Sweden: Frölunda HC (10,563)
Finland: Tampereen Tappara (8,494)
Great Britain: Sheffield Steelers (7,636)
Kazakhstan: Barys Astana (5,927)
Slovakia: HC Slovan Bratislava (4,802)
Austria: Vienna Capitals (4,148)
France: Spartiates de Marseille (4,033)
Norway: Stavanger Oilers (3,657)
Denmark: Aalborg Pirates (3,515)
Italy: HC Bolzano (3,101)
Hungary: Fehérvár AV19 (2,380)
Netherlands: Tilburg Trappers (2,298)
Poland: Zaglebie Sosnowiec (1,836)
Romania: SC Csíkszereda (1,664)
Japan: Red Eagles Hokkaido (1,589)
Slovenia: Olimpija Ljubljana (1,447)
South Korea: HL Anyang (1,035)
Belgium: Bulldogs de Liège (828)
Spain: CH Jaca / CG Puigcerdà (806)
Lithuania: Hockey Punks (608)
Croatia: KHL Sisak (593)
Estonia: Narva PSK (417)
Latvia: HK Zemgale/LBTU (334)
Iceland: Skautafélag Akureyar (190)
Serbia: SKHL Crvena zvezda (126)
Note: These are the only nations that have public attendance data on their clubs.
Each Men’s League Ranked By Average Attendance
1. National Hockey League (17,452)
2. Deutsche Eishockey Liga (7,162)
3. National League (7,130)
4. Kontinental Hockey League (6,623)
5. Swedish Hockey League (6,136)
6. American Hockey League (5,861)
7. Czech Extraliga (5,562)
8. ECHL (4,868)
9. Liiga (4,568)
10. SPHL (4,098)
11. Ontario Hockey League (4,066)
12. Western Hockey League (4,010)
13. Elite Ice Hockey League (3,479)
14. NCAA Men’s Division 1 (3,336)
15. Québec Major Junior Hockey League (3,294)
16. Deutsche Eishockey Liga 2 (3,154)
17. HockeyAllsvenskan (3,112)
18. Slovak Extraliga (2,685)
19. ICE Hockey League (2,631)
20. Ligue Magnus (2,557)
21. United States Hockey League (2,341)
22. Federal Prospects Hockey League (2,265)
23. EliteHockey Ligaen (2,035)
24. Metal Ligaen (1,812)
25. Swiss League (1,666)
26. Vysshaya Hokkeinaya Liga (1,386)
27. Polska Hokej Liga (1,218)
28. Chance Liga (1,177)
29. Mestis (1,158)
30. Asia League Ice Hockey (1,150)
31. Belarusian Extraleague (1,089)
32. Erste Liga (798)
33. BeNe Liga (774)
34. Alps Hockey League (531)
35. Liga Nacional de Hockey Hielo (341)
36. Optibet Hokeja Liga (300)
37. Coolbet Hokiliiga (281)
38. Icelandic Men’s Hockey League (124)
39. International Hockey League (119)
Notable leagues with no publicly available data: Emirates Ice Hockey League, Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey, Pro Hokei Ligasy, Türkiye InterCity Süper Lig, Ukrainian Hockey League, and other European lower tiers.
Note: This list does not include non-major junior leagues in North America or junior leagues in Europe.
Top 10 Leagues With An Attendance Increase From 2022-23
Mestis – 54.40%
Polska Hokej Liga – 39.84%
Asia League Ice Hockey – 30.24%
Deutsche Eishockey Liga 2 – 29.42%
Coolbet Hokiliiga – 27.73%
BeNe Liga – 23.44%
Kontinental Hockey League – 21.90%
Deutsche Eishockey Liga – 21.82%
Alps Hockey League - 19.06%
Ligue Magnus – 19.04%
Statistic: Only the Optibet Hokeja Liga (-12.54%) and International Hockey League (-5.56%) had decreases in attendance.
Most Attended Team In Each League
Alps Hockey League: EK Zell am See (1,796)
American Hockey League: Cleveland Monsters (10,347)
Asia League Ice Hockey: Red Eagles Hokkaido (1,589)
Belarusian Extraleague: HK Gomel (2,162)
BeNe Liga: Hijs Hockij Den Haag (1,827)
Chance Liga: Berani Zlín (2,738)
Coolbet Hokiliiga: Narva PSK (417)
Czech Extraliga: HC Sparta Praha (11,586)
Deutsche Eishockey Liga: Kölner Haie (16,993)
Deutsche Eishockey Liga 2: Krefeld Pinguine (4,914)
ECHL: Jacksonville Icemen (8,768)
EliteHockey Ligaen: Stavanger Oilers (3,657)
Elite Ice Hockey League: Sheffield Steelers (7,636)
Erste Liga: SC Csíkszereda (1,664)
Federal Prospects Hockey League: Baton Rouge Zydeco (3,958)
HockeyAllsvenskan: Djurgårdens IF (6,461)
ICE Hockey League: Vienna Capitals (4,148)
Icelandic Men’s Hockey League: Skautafélag Akureyar (190)
International Hockey League: KHL Sisak (593)
Kontinental Hockey League: SKA St. Petersburg (13,332)
Liga Nacional de Hockey Hielo: CH Jaca / CG Puigcerdà (806)
Ligue Magnus: Spartiates de Marseille (4,033)
Liiga: Tampereen Tappara (8,494)
Mestis: Jokerit Helsinki (3,719)
Metal Ligaen: Aalborg Pirates (3,515)
National Hockey League: Montréal Canadiens (21,099)
National League: SC Bern (15,490)
NCAA Men’s Division 1: University of North Dakota (11,612)
Ontario Hockey League: London Knights (9,035)
Optibet Hokeja Liga: Hockey Punks (608)
Polska Hokej Liga: Zaglebie Sosnowiec (1,836)
Québec Major Junior Hockey League: Remparts de Québec (9,840)
Slovak Extraliga: HC Slovan Bratislava (4,802)
SPHL: Huntsville Havoc (5,960)
Swedish Hockey League: Frölunda HC (10,563)
Swiss League: HC La Chaux-de-Fonds (2,930)
United States Hockey League: ??
Vysshaya Hokkeinaya Liga: Molot-Prikamye Perm (3,659)
Western Hockey League: Edmonton Oil Kings (7,404)
Other leagues with data:
Czech 2. liga: Piráti Chomutov (1,653)
Eredivisie: Amsterdam Tigers (970)
HockeyEttan: Karlskrona HK (2,201)
Molodezhnaya Hokkeinaya Liga: Sibirskie Snaipery (1,981)
NCAA Men’s Division 3: Utica University (2,717)
Oberliga: Hannover Indians (3,297)
Women’s Leagues
The inaugural Professional Women’s Hockey League season was a massive success. When including neutral site games, the league averaged an attendance of 5,448 over 70 matches. Ottawa led the way with an average attendance of 7,496, while Toronto and Montréal broke the women’s hockey attendance record with 21,105 fans at the Bell Centre on April 20.
Women’s leagues that have publicly available attendance data:
Professional Women’s Hockey League (5,448)
Svenska damhockeyligan (987)
NCAA Women’s Division 1 (514)
Naisten Liiga (88)
Sources
https://www.eurohockeyclubs.com/attendance
https://stats.swehockey.se/Teams/Statistics/Attendance/15692